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The l'Cie are humans who have been cursed by the fal'Cie. They are given great powers and magic, but they are forced to obey the gods' will to achieve their Focus, or mission. If they fail, the l'Cie turn into mindless monsters called Cie'th.

Lightning, Hope, and their other friends were once branded as l'Cie, but they managed to bring about unprecedented miracle and rid themselves of the curse. Snow is now the last l'Cie remaining in the world.

The cactuar statue that you can see in one of the plazas in Yusnaan is said to be a homage to the fal'Cie Cactuar who made Snow a l'Cie once more. It seems that Snow and Cactuar had a strange bond between them, far beyond that of any normal fal'Cie and its thralls.

Snow encounters Cactuar during his journey to find Lightning for his fiancée Serah. Cactuar had lost its memories and powers and, thinking it is a genuine Cactuar separated from its herd, Snow tries to return it, but the nearby herd stampedes. Cactuar attacks Snow, but stops when Snow tells it to. He vows to return Cactuar to its herd and Cactuar joins him on his journey. When they find a settlement of exiled PSICOM troops under attack from Behemoths, Cactuar temporarily regains its powers and destroys the monsters. Afterward it tries to brand Snow as a l'Cie, but he resists and it loses its powers again.

Snow smuggles Cactuar onto a Cocoon transport, but the ship is attacked and the two draw the monsters away. They are caught in an incomplete Time Gate and sent to the Coliseum, where Cactuar regains its memories. Again trying to brand Snow, it relents when Snow says it would not make Serah happy. The two get caught in a temporal distortion and witness many events, including Serah's death.

Snow requests to be made a l'Cie and Cactuar gives him the Focus to fight alongside Serah during the final battle. They arrive at the Sunleth Waterscape in the year 300 AF, where they are confronted by Royal Ripeness, and Cactuar is driven away. It is presumed to have either gone dormant or been destroyed when chaos was released into the mortal world from Valhalla.

According to a datalog entry, the Cactuar statue in Yusnaan was built as a homage to Cactuar, showing Snow had not forgotten the fal'Cie and the bond they had shared. During the final battle against the god Bhunivelze, Snow fulfills the Focus Cactuar had given him by fighting alongside the rescued Serah.